Toronto, August 24, 2017 – The Ukrainian Canadian community gathered for a Flag Raising Ceremony in honour of Ukraine’s 26th Anniversary of Independence.

The Ukrainian Canadian community held a flag- raising ceremony in front of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario at Queen’s Park, Toronto on Thursday, August 24 at 12:00 noon in honour of the 26th Anniversary of the Independence of Ukraine.

The event was organized by the League of Ukrainian Canadians and the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women. The official program began with an ecumenical prayer delivered by His Grace Bishop Stefan Chmilar of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada and His Grace Bishop Andriy Peshko, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, Eastern Eparchy.

This was followed by the greetings and opening remarks delivered by Hon. Dave Levac, MPP (Brant), Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Honoured guest speakers at the event included members of the provincial and federal parliaments, representatives of the Ukrainian government, the consular corps, Church and community leaders:

Anna Kuprieieva greeted the community on behalf of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Ontario Provincial Council, which represents the interests of the Ukrainian Canadian community across Ontario including Bradford, Hamilton, London, Oshawa, Ottawa, St. Catharines, Toronto, and Windsor.

The concluding remarks on behalf of event organizers were delivered by Kalyna Kardash, the League of Ukrainian Canadians.

The Canadian and Ukrainian National Anthems were performed by the Concert Marching Band “Baturyn”, Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada, Etobicoke Branch (Conductor: John Samijlo). The Master of Ceremonies was Adrianna Medyk.

The cultural part of the program was provided by Viera Zmiyiwski and Yurko Mychaluk.

The celebration was attended by over a hundred community members who waved their blue and yellow flags and greeted each other with the patriotic “Glory to Ukraine!”